National Signing Day + Player Development
National Signing Day is HERE! This is the day when multiple young athletes around the country (and now the world) sign their intent to play football at a college or university. This day is the culmination of all the hard work that the athletes have put in during the course of their lives. This day is the realization of the goals that they’ve had since they were little.This day they decide which destination will take them from home and continue the adventure into adulthood. This day they are able to look at loved ones and let them know their sacrifices were not in vain. This day they officially join a new community.
National Signing Day in my role has been one that I’ve enjoyed. I enjoy it because of the journey it takes to get to that point. Many of the players that sign, you begin getting to know them from football camps early in their careers. Most of the time this is when they’re 14 or 15 years old. From the camps, come the unofficial campus visits where you show them the campus, have photo shoots, academic presentations, and meetings with the coaching staff. Then the season comes along and they frequent the games to get the GAMEDAY experience of playing at your university. The icing on the cake is the official visit, where you are able to bring in their family and truly wine and dine the recruit. At all of these stages the recruit can commit to coming to play football for your program. The thing about signing day is now they’ve put pen to paper and they are now yours. A part of your team.
During this recruiting process, I have been fortunate in my career to sit down with these young men and talk to them about how I can help them “Beyond The Field”. (Get it!) This part is important to me because at every campus they’ve been to they’ve seen the bells and whistles, jerseys and buildings. I want to help the refocus and understand that this time on campus will be a very important part of their life. This is the time I’m able to introduce them to generational impact.
When they come on campus I like to find out what they would like to study. This has helped me in the past show the relationship we have with former players in the program and companies around the city that are associated with that study or line of work. The one question I ask in relation to what they want to study is the one of their greatest interest. I say something like if you could learn more about any career which one would it be? The answers to this are always fascinating. I also like to find out if they’ve done any community impact work and which areas interest them the most. The four areas are: education, environment, hunger and health. One thing that may shock the casual fan is how much community work these players have done. Giving them a plan of how they can continue this work in the local community brings many smiles to the athlete and their parents/guardian. There are many other things covered in these meetings, but I make sure that they understand that the player development department will enhance their student-athlete experience.
The greatest piece of the recruiting process from my role is the relationship building. It’s great seeing the maturity of the young men as they go from camps to signing to be a part of the program. We know so much about them, it’s almost stat like. But there’s something to seeing the growth in the areas they spoke to you about or that you’ve known. Literally getting to build a genuine relationship where you want what’s best for the young man and he’s allowed you the space to help him with that. I’m getting chills typing that. The maturity in the player is seen from the relationship you have with them. If there’s no relationship it’s hard to see the continual maturity. By the time the young man graduates, you have built a relationship and seen growth in the relationship and young man for nearly 10 years.
As I have stated before in many blogs, player development looks different at every university. I have been blessed in my career to be a part of the recruiting process, building relationships with the young men from recruiting to signing to playing to post career. It has been a great journey for me and I am fortunate to be a part of another National Signing Day.
To all the players and families signing, congratulations. To the athletes understand you’re more than just players and you have the opportunity to enhance your life in many ways. Make wise choices when it comes to building relationships with others. Surround yourself with those who have plans for success and excellence. Allow those talented adults you’ll meet on campus to mentor and direct you. Most of all, enjoy the opportunity that’s set before you. Get as much out of it as it will get out of you. Congrats and go create generational impact!
Hope you enjoyed the blog. For more blogs and information on player development, click this link: https://www.btfprogram.com/playerdevelopment-blog
If you would like a digital copy of my book that dives deeper into player development, click this link: https://www.btfprogram.com/btf-program-resources/btf-ebook
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God bless and go create generational impact.